Ten minutes of the Witcher 3. Holy shit those graphics. What an enormous upgrade from 2 to 3

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Seriously considering buying a 1440p capable monitor since I've got the specs to support it. I'm expecting to sink a couple of hundred hours into this which will take me a few months and then there's all the future game releases for PC that I'll eventually end up with.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Realised I haven't actually talked about the game yet. My first initial thoughts are highly positive. The combat is very familiar to the Witcher 2, but with subtle alterations. The introduction of a dodge mechanic was jarring at first. In TW2 you would avoid attacks by rolling out of the way. The roll mechanic still exists, but dodging allows you to maintain a close proximity to the opponent as well as being able to attack the back for bonus damage if you dodge in the correct position. Not only that, but it looks so damn smooth. Something so simple adds to the mystique of Geralt as being a master combatant with hyper reflexes.

The magical system is almost identical to TW2, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've found that I'm more varied with the spells I use because of how varied the combat is now. I no longer spam fire attacks over and over and I no longer ignore two of the five abilities. One ability that I ignored for two games was Quen, a damage absorption barrier. When active, it will fully absorb the damage of a damaging blow no matter how much damage is received. I found this to be a literal life saver during a very difficult boss battle. Another spell (I've forgotten the name from lack of overall use) will place a large circle of runes onto the ground. Different enemies react in different ways to entering the circle. Some are slowed down, some take massively increased damage, some are stunned entirely. When attacked by multiple opponents, this helps far more than single target spells.

The actual fighting mechanics are much more intense. Monsters are relentless, bosses hit like trucks and have tricky mechanics and humans are smart. This intensity always keeps me on my toes, no matter how much I progress with gear and upgraded talents. There will never be a point that a monster can be ignored. Sure, I can kill it in a blow or two when ten levels ago I couldn't, but it is just as deadly to me now as it was then. Add in a pack of them at once and carelessness will get me killed. Being faced by swarms of opponents at once forces me to think fast and use my reflexes. In TW1+2 I grew tired of combat and avoided enemies wherever possible towards the end. I've yet to come close to boredom with fighting, although I won't stop to fight things if I'm on my horse heading to a quest.

The transition to open world is a great one. The amount of content available is staggering and the freedom to go where I want when I please is great. One of the simplest additions is also one of the best - a gps like navigation system for questing. It will guide you amongst the best path. This would have saved me several hours of time in TW1+2 and I'm so happy with the implementation. There is a large variety of secondary quests as well as locations to explore. The map is covered in question marks (which in turn only appear from your own efforts into finding texts and noticeboards) all of which can be approached at your own pace. The secondary quests themselves are extremely interesting. A lot of attention has gone into them and the variety is huge. From following the events of a new character introduced early in TW3 after his role in the main story had ended, to a village that cursed itself into becoming sentient pigs (seriously) by stealing treasure that had been hidden away in a nearby tomb. I also know I've only scratched the surface of content too. I've put about 15 hours in so far and I feel as if I've done nothing at all when I look at everything that is still available to do. One of the things that blew my mind is that as enormous as the map I'm playing on is, it's just one sector out of several. I've yet to go to these other sectors, but the fact they even exist is crazy. The map of the sector I am in right now is as large as the entirety of other open world games.

I really don't have anything to criticise just yet. Perhaps the rather sudden introduction of a massively important story character and the subsequent departure. It was literally hi and bye within two minutes. Even that is a relatively minor gripe. The music is some of the best I've ever heard. The visuals are stunning. I care about the characters, old and new. The voice acting makes me feel as if I've stepped straight into a real village in Yorkshire. The inventory is a breeze to navigate through (one of my gripes with TW2). The alchemy system is deep as ever. I also actively use my oils and potions now, as opposed to rarely ever in the previous games.

And this is only the beginning of my experience.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Cool little thing. I was in combat against a bunch of humans. They had an archer a few feet away from where I was. He aimed a shot when I was fighting other dudes in melee range. I dodged backwards and a bandit moved into the spot I had been occupying and promptly ended up with a bolt in the back, complete with fantastic animation, which killed him. I would have applauded the sequence if I wasn't still busy fighting the other dudes.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Took me over two hours, but I finally managed to pick up Doom during the Steam Summer sale. Using the same steam trading card sales thing I mentioned a few months ago with Deus Ex, I managed to pay a total of £2.02 of my own money for the game. Hooray

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Also picked up This War of Mine, Rocket Knight (incorrectly assumed it to be related to Shovel Knight), VVVVVV and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Gave into temptation and purchased the July Humblebundle Monthly ($10) which contains Dark Souls II and a bunch of mystery games which will be revealed tomorrow. I never finished Demon's souls or Bloodborne so I feel that when I eventually get to this game that I will be determined to finish it.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

I'm really enjoying Doom thus far. It's a breath of fresh air in a genre of game that is getting increasingly generic. The lack of automatically recovering health adds an element of excitement and tension with each fight. You can't hide behind a corner for a few seconds to recover, thus low hp forces you to pay extra care to your environment and keeps you on edge. I'll do one of my detailed posts after I've finished the game.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

I haven't played much of the prior games, so I went into this with no real knowledge of what to expect, but with knowledge of the legacy of the franchise.

My immediate impressions were extremely positive. This game is extremely polished. Every action, every menu, every sound effect and visual - all so crisp and pleasing. The first thing that struck me was how familiar the game was as far as feeling like an fps, yet how different to the norm it felt. Of course, there are the expected tropes such as progressively better weapons, skill increases and bland silent protagonist storyline. What stood out to me immediately to me was just how satisfying the combat was. There is no health regeneration, no hiding for a few moments and miraculously becoming fully healed. If you play poorly, you will be punished. That said, you are also rewarded for playing well. Enemies will frequently drop hp packs and ammo upon death. Health is low and you're at high risk of dying? Play correctly and you'll be rewarded with that vital bit of extra health or armor, and deservedly so. Panic and play poorly and you will die.

The enemy variety is quite diverse. Given that you are fighting the demons of hell, rather than zombies or humans, you will find that the combat is quite unique (at least amongst the many fps that I have played). From demons that will hang from the sides of walls shooting fireballs at you, to the hellhounds that charge relentlessly at you to eat your face, to the hordes of minions that are trying to eat your face (figuratively and literally) - all of this is happening simultaneously by the way. The challenge increases bit by bit, level by level. My nerd rage moments began to trigger more often than I'd like to admit in the second half of the game, particularly in the boss battles. But the satisfaction from finally defeating the gauntlet of demons or that stupid boss with the stupid face that is stupid (so stupid) makes it all worth it. Bonus points to the gorgeous splattering of bloods and guts that comes with the death of each enemy, and the special animations used when each boss is beaten.

There is also a moderate amount of content besides the campaign. For the casual player who just wants to shoot demons in the face and have a blast (you decide if this is a pun or not), this game will absolutely give you what you desire. For the player who wishes to explore every inch, find every secret, read every bit of detailed lore and complete every challenge, this game will give you absolute every pennies worth of your purchase.

My gripes are minor. The first half of the game suffers from being too "samey". The environment doesn't change too much and the aesthetics grow to be dull. Throughout all of the game, there are scenarios in which the next path to take isn't clear. I could be accused of mission the obvious, but given the amount of threads found on google for the exact same areas, it's safe to assume that the design could have been better. It also sucks to be in relentless combat for several minutes, only to end up wandering around aimlessly for far too long and killing immersion. Worse if I feel forced to ask Google for help. The Multiplayer is also quite lacking, both in quality and in actual players. Out of the game modes available, I could only find enough people for a standard team deathmatch. I attempted to queue for all of the solo options such as regular deathmatch but not enough people joined. The deathmatch itself was also uninteresting. The demon mechanic is certainly unique, but it alone isn't enough to make me want to keep playing. In a 3v3 map, chasing a couple of people around just isn't that interesting. The story is as bland as to be expected, but I'm not even sure if that counts as a negative or not. The frequently intense, fast paced combat is the main reason to play, not the story.

All in all, the positives more than make up for the minor negatives. People wanting an fps multiplayer will be more than aware of the better options available. Other than the moments of aimless walking trying to find the next area to progress to, Doom kept my attention at all times and I found myself looking forward to my next play session. If I didn't have such a huge backlog of games to get through, I would have already begun my next playthrough on the hardest difficulty.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

After a bit over 100 hours, I've finished the main story of the Witcher 3, and the bulk of content. All that is left is the second expansion. Oh man, what a journey.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

That's a problem with open world games in general. They're just too damn big and there's too much to do. By the time you've sunk a good portion of time into a large game, other games have come out to steal your attention. It was pretty satisfying to get to the end of this one, especially after the play through of the first two games. Kind of miffed that there are multiple endings though, it feels like I'm robbed of an actual conclusion to the story of Geralt.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Witcher fatigue is starting to sink in after about 110 hours of gameplay. I know that if I stop now, that I'll be unlikely to come back anytime soon and the story of this expansion is quite fascinating so I'll stick it out some more.

I looked at my playtime of all my steam games and The Witcher 3 is now my most played game (not including idle background games). I put 112 hours into GTA V over two different run throughs and I put 85 hours into an attempt at 100%ing (and failing) of Skyrim. Mad Max is in third place with 52 hours and I did at least 90% of the content of that game. I think it's a testament to the quality of The Witcher 3 that I've put in so much time and only now grew tired of it. There are (literally) hundreds of areas on the map to explore that I haven't been to. Monster nests, guarded treasures and bandits being examples. I can see a 100% completion easily taking up to 150 hours or more. But then you factor in the story and the choices you make. The story is a huge driving point of the experience, far more so than a game like Skyrim. There is replay value in all of the different choices to make. It's mind boggling of all of the potential that a single game contains within.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Spent the last couple of weeks playing the new Hearthstone expansion. Not really much relevant commentary I can provide since the majority of people reading this don't play.

Sonic Mania released recently to rave reviews. Many are praising it as one of the best Sonic games ever made, if not the best. I'm a huge Sonic fan, it being one of the first video games I ever played. Yesterday I gave in to temptation and pre ordered it. I very rarely order games immediately for release. Fallout 4 was the last game I did this with. But just my luck, Sonic Mania was delayed by two weeks for PC and won't release until the 29th. To fill my itch, I've rebooted Sonic 4, Episode 1. I gave this a try immediately after my play through of Sonic Generations (a game I adored). I disliked ep1 immensely. It just felt "wrong". Like a badly made browser clone. It was hideous, didn't control well and just wasn't fun. I didn't get more than half an hour into it. This time it didn't feel as bad as it did before, maybe because I didn't have a month of prior Sonic Generation instincts. It wasn't as disappointing as before, but it's still a subpar Sonic game in comparison to the rest of the series. I was slightly surprised at there only being 5 levels, but knowing there is an episode 2 helps a bit. I'm currently on the final boss but it is very poorly designed mechanically and I closed the game out of frustration. I've put about an hour and a half into the prior five levels. Two hours for a full run through is disappointing regardless of there being a second part. Sonic Generations lasted me a month easily. That said, I have no knowledge of the content of ep2 so maybe it'll exceed my expectations.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan